Chapter 143: A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words
Rather than simply abandon the captured base of the once former 'Boss', Seven and his people decided to claim the territory for the Free Peoples.
They did this because not only did they not wish to hand back the resources that the territory provided as there were quite a few active farms within its borders, but it also gave them a much closer jumping-off point to push out into the other clan territories before their inevitable assault on the capital.
Seven also knew now that they were going to have their work cut out for them as the other Raider Clans were not likely to take the toppling of one of their own very lightly.
A strikeback was inevitable once they figured out what was happening and who was doing it. All he could do for the time being was to ensure that the defenses of each of the captured settlements were not only up to scratch but were far beyond what the Raiders or any other surprises this region held for them would bring.
Though for the time being he was happy to watch the newly freed slaves reveling in their newfound freedoms and also watching the surprising speed at which friendships were blossoming between them and their non-human saviors.
The once feared and reviled Gatorclaws was now a constant source of reassurance and joy for the freed slaves as was proven by a little scene playing out right below the window of their new temporary command center in the Boss's home.
Visa was leaning on one of the massive window sills which looked out over the large fort-like town when she spotted something that piqued her curiosity.
"Hey come and look at this my love," she called causing Seven to turn from the map of the region that he'd captured which showed the current makeup of the clan territories and rough numbers as well as their resource export.
He walked over to stand beside his massive Claw girl as she pointed down towards one of the fields where a group of young human teens seemed to be happily showing a group of the Gatorclaw soldiers how they took care of the crops.
It made his heart smile as he watched one of the large Gatorclaw females walk to the back of one of the nearby handcarts and retrieve a truly massive water bowser which she carried back over to them like weighed no more than a sack of potatoes.
As he watched the other Gatorclaws in her little pack all began to chip in grabbing long stretches of hose pipe and working on them until they had rigged up a make-shift irrigation system that ran the length of the nearby crop gullies.
The massive Gatorclaw female began to pump the bowser handle causing water to spray all along the lines of crops at once as she increased the pressure.
Seven chuckled to himself as he watched the teens marvel at this little revelation, he was quite literally watching the Gatorclaws take what they had learned about farming from the previously freed slaves of their settlements back in Dry Rock and now passing that knowledge along, they were teaching them to work smarter, not harder.
"Well I'll be damned, we really are having an impact aren't we?' he said softly as he watched the teens shrieking with joy as they saw how much easier it was to simply fill a single bowser and pump that rather than carry the heavy cans up and down the lines of crops.
"What do you humans say now, oh yes, give a male a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime," Visa said proudly as she watched her Gatorclaw counterparts teaching them other little tricks they had learned about how to efficiently sew seeds now.
"While true I get the feeling with our lot it would swiftly turn into give a male a fish and he'll instantly use it to try and win over a pretty Claw girl," Seven said making Visa chuckle before swishing her long tail and cocking her hip as she turned to face him with her hand on said hip.
"It will take more than a single fish to get under this Claw girl's tail human boy," she said with a defiant yet seductive growl to her voice.
"Hmmmm how about two fish and a foot rub?" Seven said with a playful grin.
"Sold, that big wooden desk do for you?" Visa said making Seven bark out a loud laugh before reaching out for her hand before she reached down and flipped him up and onto one of her large shoulders.
"I'll take one of those human IOUs on the foot rub and the fish," Visa said carrying Seven towards the large polished oak desk that was the pride of the Boss's collection, shame they were going to ruin it.
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Vizzy cou;dn't help but smirk to herself as she watched Visa flip Seven off his feet and vanish somewhere deeper into the Boss's office.
She got a distinct feeling that the doors would soon be locked and if they weren't woe betide anyone unlucky enough to want an audience with their Claw-loving leader for at least the next hour.
She also felt a pang of jealousy that pulled a heavy sigh from her as well as a mournful buzz from her wings.
That was when she heard a soft scratching noise coming from below the ledge she was currently sitting upon and when she looked down she spotted the human artist called David sitting in the shade of a nearby building with what appeared to be a sketch pad in his hands and he appeared to be looking up at her.
He also blushed rather brightly when she caught him looking at her so she decided that this warranted further investigation.
Lifting off from the ledge she flew down to ground level and landed a few feet from him causing him to shield himself slightly from the dust kicked up by her wings.
"Hi David, what ya drawing?" she asked darting forwards to get a look at the pad before he was able to clutch it to his chest and hide it from her.
What she saw before the image vanished against his slender chest caused her mandibles to fall open.
The drawing was truly exquisite, he had sketched her in what appeared to be charcoal and had used some colored graphite to fill in the colors of her body but only the colours of her body.
The entire image was black and white except for her and it really made her pop vividly out of his little canvas.
"I-Is that me?" she exclaimed pointing to the now hidden pad.
David blushed even brighter and then nodded with a bit of an embarrassed look creeping onto his face.
"Y-Yeah, please don't be angry with me, I wanted to give it to you as a thank you for what you all did for me, one of your guys found this paper pad and a box of coloured graphite pencils, he said I could have them so I thought it would be a nice thing to maybe draw you all and then give them to you," he said sounding as embarrassed as he looked.
"Can I see it?' she asked with a pleasant buzz to her wings.
David looked kinda awkward but nodded and held out the pad to her.
"I've only managed to do three of you so far," he said as Vizzy took the pad in two of her four hands and opened it up to look inside.
The first two images were of Visa and Seven, Visa was standing looking every bit the valiant conquering Alpha Claw as she watched over a load of faded Gatorclaws who were protecting freed slaves.
Seven was floating in the air, wearing his power armour though lacking his helmet but still looking like some kind of Knight commander or maybe a King floating high above people, as he watched protectively over people getting given their first free meal with their new guardians, making absolutely sure that nothing would ever harm them again, somehow she imagined him as this silent sentinel guarding all the innocent lives before him resolutely with power fueled by his determination and passion to keep them all safe.
Then there was her picture, she wasn't being valiant, or heroic, or standing looking out over defeated foes, she was simply sitting on a ledge looking out over green fields and beautiful flowers, and that was when it hit her.
There were no green fields or beautiful flowers here, that's when she looked more closely at herself and realized that she had what appeared to be a crown of flowers woven through her antennae and she was also the only thing in full colour in the picture.
"How come mine is so different to the other two?" she asked glancing up at him and waving her antennae over him as she suddenly realized that the air was thick with pheromones around him and they were making her curious.
They tasted sweet but with also a bitter hint of nervousness to them.
"I err umm well you see when I saw you sat on that wall you just seemed to well shine, you just looked so vibrant, like you didn't have a care in a world and you could be a simple pretty girl sitting and watching the world go by with no worries, just content to be," he said.
"But there are no fields and flowers here though well unless you count the fields of crops anyway and they certainly don't look like these here?" she pressed before freezing up as her mind suddenly caught the one sentence in what he'd said that her brain hadn't ever expected so completely passed over.
He'd called her a pretty girl.
"Yeah i know and I'm sorry if the fictional setting isn't to your liking I can always change it, just seeing you up there made me think of a picture i once saw as a kid, it was of an advertisement for honey or at least I think it was honey, it was so long ago now but anyway it had these beautiful rolling hills filled with golden wheat and these pretty flowers everywhere, then there were all these little bees buzzing about happily collecting pollen to make the honey but in the fore ground there was a pretty human girl and when I saw you up there it made me instantly think of you, like you were some kind of pretty queen bee watching over all your little worker bees as they busily collected the pollen for you to make the honey and I just couldn't unsee it so I drew it, I was going to draw you in the same kind of flowing summer style dress that I saw her wearing which I guess was kinda the style they liked to wear back in the day when everything wasn't trying to kill you but I thought it would be a real shame to cover up your carapace's beautiful vibrant colours and your wings kinda look like a flowing dress made of gossmer anyway, I mean they shimmy and seem to flow when you walk or sit anyway so yeah I guessed they would work as a stand in to give you that regal feminie beauty, I'm sorry if you don't like it I can do better I promise," he said.
Vizzy felt like someone had clubbed her upside of the head, never in her life had anyone other than her brother said such beautiful things to her, not only had he called her pretty and beautiful but he'd said she looked like a queen, a human male saw her as a true hive queen just like her brother had said!
"It's beautiful David, please don't change a thing but I'm not sure I deserve such an honour as to overwrite your memory like this, I'm not a queen nor am I beautiful," she said with her voice shaking slightly.
"Oh, but you do! And yes you are! Both inside and out, I saw what you did for us here, the way you fought for us and I was going to draw you in an action scene like I did for Seven and Visa, you know kinda swooping in to kill raiders or to save people. But then when I saw you up there I thought here is a person who deserves to have the world see her for who she truly is, not just this battle-hardened warrior but also as a simple girl who just likes to sit and see the beauty of the world, one who would do anything she could to make it better and to keep it beautiful, that's why I kinda chose the image of a queen plus you umm kinda looked pretty regal sat up there," he said scratching the back of his head happy that she liked his work.
"Thank you, David, so so much you have no idea what this picture and your kind words mean to me," she said fighting back her emotions but her joyful buzzing seemed to confuse him as she fought to push down the powerful feelings welling up inside her.
It seemed that David took her cracking voice for a form of sadness and she saw it in his beautifully expressive eyes.
"I'm sorry if I upset you Vizzy, I didn't mean to I..." he began looking distraught that he'd possibly upset her but she cut his words off by wrapping her four arms around him and hugging him against her.
"I'm not upset, I'm happy, it means what my brother and my queen always said to me was true, every word of it and you saw it as plain as day, you have no idea what that means to me," she said softly in his ear.
"I umm, no I'm afraid I don't but I'm glad you like it and that it made you happy, people like you and all the others here deserve all the happiness you can get in this world and this life because of what you do for people like me, trust me when I say that people who are willing to stand up for others, for complete strangers are a rarity, so to meet not only other humans but non-humans who are willing to do so especially when under normal circumstances my kind would probably run out of fear of you or worse attack you for nothing more than existing fills me with me with both joy and sadness in equal measure," he said softly while his hands fidgeted at his sides obviously unsure of whether he could or should return her embrace.
Vizzy felt his nervousness and she also smelt it in the air around him so she stepped back from him releasing him as she did so.
"Why sadness?" she asked.
"Guilt I suppose, I felt just as scared as everyone else when I first saw you, I was worried that you were going to hurt and kill us, we always get told these stories about the wastes being such a dangerous place where everything wants to kill us, human and non-human alike, so then to see a group like yours bursting in here the way you did I thought it was the end for us all, that we were gonna get torn apart and eaten, but then I saw what you were all doing, how you were only targeting the Raiders and nobody was eating anyone, that's when I realized who you were, heroes and I felt like shit because of my bigotry towards you all," he said with a guilty note in his voice as he hung his head with obvious shame.
Vizzy buzzed her wings with a note of both compassion and shared guilt as she remembered her first thoughts when she met Seven's group and she nodded her head in understanding making her antennae bob and swish.
She placed one of her hands on his shoulders and reached out with one of her lower ones to take one of his in it.
"Would it shock you to know that I kinda thought the same about humans at first?" she asked and he looked up at her in surprise as he had been looking at his hand as she gently rubbed the wonderfully soft and supple skin of it.
"R-Really?" he asked and she nodded making her antennae bob and swish again.
"Come, sit with me, I want to tell you a story," she said gesturing to the ledge that she'd been sat on before and David looked up at it.
"I umm don't think I can get up there, I'm not a very good climber and I don't see a ladder..." he began as he looked around the nearby wall.
"Oh don't worry about that, I gotcha covered," Vizzy laughed as she walked behind him and quickly wrapped her lower arms around his waist while hooking her upper ones under his armpits before taking to the air.
He was heavier than he looked but also lighter than she felt he should be which was an odd thought.
She had braced for his weight and while he was heavy enough for her to realize there was no way she'd be able to fly any significant distance while carrying him it was obvious that he was lighter than he should be given his size which meant he was very undernourished.
This was most likely a result of being very underfed a feeling she knew all too well after her time in the Boss's hands, she and her brother were lucky if they got fed once a day, sometimes every other day so she could very much sympathize with him.
"Whoa!!" he exclaimed as she lifted him into the air with a clattering of her large wings before hoisting him up to the ledge and depositing him safely upon it before landing behind him and holding him steady while he got his footing.
"Wow I didn't know you were strong enough to carry a whole person!" he exclaimed turning around with both surprise and joy written on his handsome face.
"Not over long distances but a short lift like that one is no problem," she said smiling at him with her mandibles.
Then she turned and once again took her seat before patting the ground next to her and inviting him to sit with her.
David cautiously sat down on his bum before scooting over to the edge to sit next to her as she let her legs dangle over the side, ahead of them the sun was setting over the hills in the distance casting a firey orange and gold glow over the world before them.
"Oh wow, it's so beautiful!" David exclaimed, his eyes widening in delight as he took in the view over the hills for the first time.
"Things tend to be the higher you get, sometimes a change of perspective can really open your eyes to things around you," she said softly as she took in the view before her, but not one of the gold-bathed hills, more the gold bathed human sat next to her.
She loved the way the sun lit his tanned white skin with an almost caramel light, the way it seemed to make his black hair shimmer like there were highlights of greens and golds woven through it.
The way it made his eyes sparkle as he drank it all in.
He was an amazingly beautiful male and she couldn't help but wonder why the Boss hadn't added him to her 'Private' collection.
This collection was kind of an open secret among the slaves, even down in their basement cages she and her brother heard tales of it from those unfortunate enough to earn the Boss's wrath enough to be cast down into the darkness with them to serve out their punishment.
If handsome male slaves were captured or bought that caught the Boss's eye she would often have them plucked from the cages and taken away to her quarters where they were kept away from the others, now while no one knew what happened to these 'House' slaves as they were called they all knew it was not good as the sounds of crying could often be heard coming from the house late into the night as well as cries of pain.
Whatever the reason he had not been collected, Vizzy felt very thankful for it as it had spared him at least some of the horrors of that place.
"So what was that story you wished to tell me and do you mind if I sketch while you tell it, I just see so many beautiful things here that I cannot waste this opportunity?" he asked and she nodded with a smile, seeing him so happy and filled with energy as well as joy filled her with a sense of it as well.
"No of course not, sketch away I want to see the world the way you see it," Vizzy said gesturing to both his pad and the view with two of her hands.
Then she took a deep breath to tell him the story of her life in the hive and what had happened to her and her brother.
As she talked David listened intently but she could also see him constantly glancing between her, the view, and the pad in his hands though from the angle they were sat at she couldn't see what it was he was seeing.
When she reached the part where her home and her family were burned alive by Torch on the Boss's orders David froze and his face morphed into one of pure horror and one of pure sympathy he reached out with his hand and placed it on her knee which made her wings buzz in both happiness and surprise.
"Oh, Vizzy I had no idea that evil bastard did that to you and your brother! Oh, I'm so so sorry," he said with such pain flowing through his eyes and beautifully displaying the purity of his emotions and the truth behind them.
To him, these were not just words of sympathy but were genuine pain felt on her behalf she did not wish him to feel any more pain than he had already felt in his life so far but she was so touched that he felt such raw emotion on her behalf, it showed her in no uncertain terms the heart of the man she was dealing with here.
Vizzy reached down and placed her lower left hand atop his and held it on her leg, rather enjoying the sensation of his warm nimble fingers on her carapace and was very tempted to hold it there as long as she could, but she knew that he was going to need it back to continue scetching so after a brief but wonderful moment of empathy had passed between the two she released him.
"Thank you, David, but it is not your fault, you had nothing to do with such an atrocity, and nor did any of your other kinsmen or women, this was something that I found hard to learn at first and I blamed all humans for what had happened to us, but then my brother and Seven's people showed me how very wrong that way of thinking was, that I couldn't blame all for the actions of a few, they also showed me that there were good and kind people out there of all species who would not only accept us but embrace us and welcome us into their lives," she said gesturing to the town behind them where such things were already happening on masse.
"Just look at this place as a prime example of this, already things are getting better for us and for everyone here, now with every life we touch we spread our message and show people that there is a different way to live, a way that is not governed by fear or mistrust but at the same time is not weak or naive, we know how to fight and we have plenty of strength to go around, but what sets us apart from the other groups of the wastes is how we use that strength," Vizzy said with a clenched fist and a proud yet defiant buzz of her wings.
David looked down over the settlement and she could see he could see what she was talking about, from the Gatorclaws helping and mingling with their new human friends, to the other non-human members of Seven's group that were assisting people wherever they could, there was a very distinct harmony to their actions.
He turned back to look at Vizzy and continued to sketch while he spoke.
"All my life I have lived in fear, fear of pain, fear of death, fear of torture to name but a small selection, all I've ever wanted was to be free and to be happy, to make people happy with my art and to show people how my mind's eye see the world so that maybe just maybe my drawings might act as a kind of roadmap to what the world could be, if we really tried, now here you guys are making my dream a reality, it's more than I could have ever hoped for," he said softly and Vizzy gave him a happy buzz of her wings.
"Just you wait and see David, we're going to bring this dream of yours and ours to everyone here, we're gonna push those that would use and abuse people of any species out of this land, we're gonna make it free just like we did for you guys and those before you, the Free Peoples of the Wastes isn't just a group, its an idea and you can't kill an idea because just like a virus it spreads, only instead of making people ill and suffer, this virus is the cure to it," she said defiantly once again clenching two of her fists and aiming them at the sky.
"I hope so Vizzy I do, there are so many good people just like us around here that could use your help and I know I am no warrior but I swear I will do everything in my power to help in whatever way I can," he said trying to echo her passion and defiance.
That's when he flipped around his sketch pad to show her what he'd been drawing and Vizzy's mandibles fell open at what she saw.
"I don't know if this will work but Seven said a part of this battle was winning the hearts and minds of normal people like me, by showing them that not all non-humans are bad and that the vast majority are good people just like them, I think that maybe something like this will help foster that unity if they see the beauty that I've seen here then maybe it will help to kickstart things in the settlements going forwards," he said nervously, obviously hoping for her approval of what he'd drawn.
It was an image of Vizzy though this time she was in her full battle armour, she was floating in the air next to Seven who was in full power armour except for the helmet again, it was like he was determined to put a human face on him for all to see.
They were floating above a battlefield that seemed to be a near carbon copy of the beautiful vista that was visible from the ledge they were sat on, showing the fields and hills bathed in golden sunlight.
Below them was an army of Gatorclaws and humans who were valiantly fighting raiders while shielding freed slaves, they were bringing them food and blankets at the rear of the lines while the front was made up of the Gatorclaw phalanx who were like an impenetrable wall that the raiders could not pass.
At the top was a slogan written in graphite, 'Be Free Like the Free Peoples of the Wastes,' it read.
"Or there's this one if that one is a little too graphic," he said flipping the page over to reveal that while she had been busy telling him her story he had managed to not only draw this heroic battle scene but managed to pull off another sketch, but this one was of her.
It showed her standing in the center of a field of lush green grass that was filled with flowers that had little bees flitting about, she wasn't wearing her armor in this one, and once again it appeared he had paired a great deal of attention to the curves and colours of her body in that the detail was incredibly accurate, though she did wonder if her chest was as large as he portrayed it though she did resist the urge to look down as to not give away her self consciousness.
She was smiling brightly and holding her hand out towards the viewer as if beckoning them to join her.
At the top, it read 'Join the Free Peoples of the Wastes, a brighter future for all, together.'
"T-T-They are beautiful David, truly beautiful b-b-but I don't think I would be the best face for such an honour, surly someone more heroic like Seven or Visa or maybe both," she stammered and David shook his head very passionately.
"I disagree! You are beautiful and heroic Vizzy! When I saw you streaking through the skies above the town I just knew in my heart that I was seeing something amazing, someone amazing, now here you are and I get to talk to you and truly see you, and it changed my entire world, you've changed my entire world, I'll never look at another non-human the same way again and its all thanks to you and I want to share that with everyone, because if only one person like me somewhere sees this picture or one like it of you and feels the same way then like you said that idea has spread and it will be thanks to your pretty face!" he exclaimed.
Vizzy was so taken aback by his passionate outburst that if she had tear ducts she might have very well cried for joy right there, instead, she shot forward and wrapped all four of her arms tightly around the slender human artist.
"Thank you, David, thank you so so much," she said softly and this time he didn't fight the urge to hug her right back.
As she felt his hands slip between the folds of her wings and the warmth of his fingers on the thin but strong membranes she felt a powerful rush flicker through her like a flash fire.
It was a pleasure, her very first taste of it induced by another being and not just the thought or fantasy of them, but a real, intimate encounter that she could not bear to let go of.
At that exact second, she made her mind up, she wanted this man and she was going to do everything in her power to not only get him but to protect him, she was going to be his hive queen and they were going to set up their own little hive just like her brother had.
When they slowly released one another she could see the flush in David's cheeks but this flush wasn't from embarrassment.
Thanks to the powerful sense of smell that her antenne afforded her his pheromones were easy to pick out and now thanks to her experiences around humans they were easy to read.
Excitement and arousal were the two most prominent of the scents that were blended into the maelstrom of scents pouring off him.
She had to strike while the iron was hot and she knew it, if she let this chance slip through her many fingers and let his fear reassert its hold over him she'd never forgive herself.
"Would you like to join me for dinner this evening David?" she asked quickly remembering something Vess had said to her about getting her chosen human alone and away from the others so that they would be more at peace.
"Really? I-I mean yes! Yes, I'd love to join you for a meal!" he said making her giggle as he quickly corrected his surprise at her offer.
"Excellent! And bring your sketch pad, I want to test those artistic powers of yours to the maximum," she said with a grin on her mandibles that seemed to cause him some confusion.
"Umm ok," he said obviously confused and she reached up to very gently tuck one of his curly black locks behind his ear and took the opportunity to sneak in a feel of his silk-soft caramel skin as she did.
Vess was absolutely right in what she said, when you touch a human for the first time and feel the silk smoothness of their hide you will do absolutely anything to have that feeling again.
David smiled shyly at her as she did this and she smiled back at him.
"Don't you worry, I would never let anything bad happen to you and I promise you this, neither of us will ever be slaves again while I draw breath and there is fire in my wings, this I swear to you," she said in a soft voice.
"Thank you Vizzy, you have no idea what those words mean to me, especially coming from you as you know this pain as well as I do," he said and she nodded allowing her antennae to brush over his head as she did.
She relished the taste of his raw pheromones, they were just so incredibly potent and intoxicating, but with some serious effort on her part, she tore herself away from him and stood back up offering him a hand to his feet as she did.
Once again she quickly turned him around and in the same way as she'd gotten him up there, she grabbed him and flew him back to the ground.
"Right well you go and get yourself ready and I'll meet you back here tonight, in the meantime I have some preparations to make and just so you are aware, given that you have quite clearly stated that you see me as a hive queen this queen will give only the best at her table, so I expect you to rise to the occasion, so scrub up David I expect company fit for a queen understand?" she said putting on her best regal voice as she drew herself up into a very prim and proper stance.
A wide grin lit David's face as he spotted the joke though she was only partially joking and he gave her a very polite and surprisingly regal bow.
"Very well Your Highness, I will endeavor to not disappoint," he said putting on some rather fetching airs and graces.
"Very good now off you go and don't be late, your queen does not like to be kept waiting," she said gesturing with two of her hands which with another bow sent him running off in the direction of the housing block which was currently being upgraded by a busy team of humans and Gatorclaws.
She really hoped that she would be able to impress him tonight as she really didn't want to mess this up.
Her heart hammered in her chest making her carapace thump in time with it as she watched him go and suddenly a deep and resonating cough to her right got her attention and she turned to find a rather large Claw standing in the shadows of the wall grinning from horn to horn.
"Told you didn't I?' Vess said in a deep throaty voice and Vizzy laughed though more at the fact that this massive Alpha Claw really did have a knack for creeping up on people unnoticed, no wonder the Claw cubs were terrified of her, they couldn't get away with shit with her on watch as the wayward Gatorclaw cubs had learned on the first day she had set foot into their compound.
"You did and you were right on all fronts," Vizzy said nodding her head.
"Good, now do me a favor don't mess this up, that one looks like a mighty fine catch so show him you are worthy of him, and don't let him forget it understand?" Vess said and Vizzy nodded.
"I won't, I swear it," she said as the big Alpha Claw female turned with a swish of her massive tail.
"Good and now if you'll excuse me all this love in the air has put me in the right mood, I have some human hunting of my own to do," she said making a beeline for a rather unsuspecting Chris who was currently in the field with a load of Gatorclaws helping them set up another irrigation system.
Vizzy laughed as she watched her go, now all she had to do was source and prepare a dinner fit for a king, boy she really had her work cut out.